What If?
by WickedForGood13
Summary: What if the guards had listened when Jasmine had pleaded for Aladdin and released him? Here's how I think their conversation would have gone.


"Unhand him. By order of the Princess."

The next thing Aladdin knew, he was being forced to his knees by the guards.

"Princess Jasmine!" exclaimed the head guard. "What are you doing outside the palace wall, and with this street rat."

Aladdin winced at the term 'street rat.'

"That's not your concern. Do as I command. Release him." Jasmine was furious.

The guard stood considering Jasmine's order for a moment.

"Did you not hear me?" demanded Jasmine. "Release him."

With a nod, the guard ordered Aladdin's release.

The guards holding him pushed him roughly to the ground before departing.

Aladdin remained where he was, face to the dirt, afraid to meet Jasmine's gaze. He sensed her approaching. Her slippers came into his line of vision.

"What's your name?" she asked him kindly.

"Aladdin, Your Highness," he said, speaking to the dirt.

"Well, Aladdin. I'd appreciate talking to your face rather than the top of your head."

When Aladdin continued to kneel before her, she decided to kneel down to, so as to be at his level.

"It's alright. I'm not going to bite," she said reassuringly.

Aladdin looked hesitantly at her for a moment, before immediately dropping his gaze back to the ground.

"If I may speak, Your Highness," he began.

"Of course, Aladdin," said Jasmine, smiling at him.

"Why did you demand my release? Wouldn't you want to see me in prison, where I belong? I'm a street rat. I steal, I'm no good, yet you saved me. Why?"

Jasmine stared at him in amazement, shocked that so young a man would think so little of himself. The things he must have heard said about him. He must have heard hurtful things for so long that he now believed them to be true.

"Aladdin, you don't belong in prison. You are not a street rat. You are a good person. That's why I saved you. Now we're even. You saved me, I saved you."

Aladdin laughed, despite himself. He stopped, however, and shot a quick look at Jasmine to see if she thought it alright to laugh.

She was chuckling too.

"Your Highness," he began.

"Please, call me Jasmine."

"Your Highness," Aladdin continued. "Up there, where I live, we almost kissed. You would have done that, knowing that I'm nothing?"

"You are not nothing, Aladdin. We haven't known each other long, less than a day. But I already feel a deep connection with you. You understand me in a way that no one else ever has."

Aladdin had been watching her. He felt exactly the same way. She understood and connected with him in a way no one had in a long time.

She looked back down at him and he dropped his head so he was once more kneeling submissively before her.

"You don't have to do that, you know," she commented.

"Do what?" he asked the ground.

"Grovel," Jasmine replied.

"But you're the princess. Commoners are expected to grovel.

"I don't expect, or want, anyone to grovel to me," she said. "So, sit up."

Aladdin slowly, but obediently, sat up, resisting the urge to rub his back and neck, both of which had gotten sore from bending over for so long.

The princess and the street rat sat in silence.

"Aladdin," said Jasmine, finally breaking the silence. "Will you come with me to the palace? I want to introduce you to my father."

"The palace? Me? Your father? Why?" Aladdin was stunned.

"I like you, maybe even love you, and I want you and my father to get along."

"You…like me, maybe even…love me?" Aladdin stuttered.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you see me for who I really am, not just some title or some prize to be won. You see me and you want the same things as me, such as freedom. That's why."

"Jasmine," Aladdin whispered, forgetting his place and calling Jasmine by her given name. "I mean, Your Highness," he quickly corrected himself.

"I prefer Jasmine," she said gently.

"Jasmine," said Aladdin again, practicing. "I like you too. I was watching you when you first entered the market. You stood out, in a good way. I thought you were pretty and then when your hood fell off, I changed my mind and decided that you were beautiful. I'd never seen the princess before, so I had no idea that she was you. But I wanted to get to know you, not you the princess, but you. Then, you were in trouble and I couldn't stand by and watch you suffer. I had to do something. I became involved and I don't regret anything. I definitely do not my growing feelings for you. Even if admitting that I like, maybe even love, you sends me to the dungeons."

Aladdin once again hung his head, bowing low before her.

Jasmine could only stare. She'd never met a man who could openly talk about his feelings. All the princes she'd ever met were pompous and self-centered. Then there was Aladdin, a young man who could hardly be called royalty, yet he acted more like a prince than those who _actually were_ princes did.

"Aladdin," she whispered, desperately wanting to look into his expressive eyes again. "No one will be sending you to the dungeons, not while I'm around. I want to be there for you, if you'll be there for me. Will you?"

"But I'm nobody," protested Aladdin.

"You're somebody to me, and that's all that matters. What do you say, Aladdin?"

"I think I love you," he whispered, daring to look her in the eyes.

"Really? 'Cause I _know_ I love you."

Jasmine leaned forward, indicating that Aladdin should follow. Their lips met in the middle. Both closed their eyes and let instinct take over. When oxygen again became a priority, they broke apart, gasping for air.

"Never again doubt your worth, Aladdin," said Jasmine, nestled in his arms.

Aladdin was shaking.

"What's wrong?" asked Jasmine, concerned.

"It's just…crazy. I've been told all my life that I'll never amount to a thing, and now here I am, holding the princess in my arms."

Jasmine leaned out of his embrace to look up at him.

"Don't worry about me," he said, smiling down at her. "I'll be alright."

"Oh, Aladdin," said Jasmine, settling back into his arms.

They stayed that way for some time, neither wanting to spoil the moment.

Finally, though, Aladdin broke the silence.

"You said something about going to the palace. We should probably start heading that way if we want to make it there by night. The city can be dangerous at night, even more so for you, being the princess and all."

"But I'll have you to protect me," said Jasmine. "You're all I'll ever need."

"And you're all I'll ever need."

Their eyes met.

"I love you," whispered Aladdin, before leaning down to capture Jasmine in a passionate embrace.


End file.
